One-third of culvert impassable for fish

The Nature Conservancy has just finished assessing approximately 1300 stream culverts in the Lamoille River Basin. Their report shows that 33% of the culverts are impassible to fish like the brook trout. And those same culverts are also the most likely to fail during a flood event. Paul Marangelo a Conservation Biologist from the Nature Conservancy talks with ECHO's Bridget Butler about working to retrofit culverts for both wildlife and transportation.

IMAGINE FINDING EVERY CULVERT IN THE LAMOILLE RIVER BASIN AND ASSESSING HOW ANIMALS AND WATER MOVE THROUGH IT. THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THE NATURE CONSERVANCY HAS DONE FOR ALMOST 1300 CULVERTS. CONSERVATION CORRESPONDENT BRIDGET BUTLER EXPLAINS. STING NAT HIT WATER POURING FROM CULVERT GO VITUALLY UNNOTICED. THAT IS UNTIL THEY BECOME A PROBLEM. 8.38 PAUL This pipe is undersized for what it, to what it needs to be and it's causing a lot of problems because of that. 8.45 PAUL MARANGELO, A CONSERVATION BIOLOGIST, SAYS INADEQUATELY SIZED CULVERT PIPES RESTRICT FLOW DURING FLOOD EVENTS. IN ADDITION BAD CULVERTS LIKE THIS ONE ARE TROUBLESOME FOR FISH. 1.35 PAUL If you are a brook trout or some kind of fish wanted to pass up this culvert right now you couldn't do it. 1.43 A REPORT BY THE NATURE CONSERVANCY SHOWS THAT 33% OF CULVERTS IN THE LAMOILLE RIVER BASIN ARE IMPASSABLE TO FISH AND MANY OF THOSE ARE LIKELY TO WASH OUT DURING A MAJOR STORM. 18.59 PAUL If a tree comes down, starts to clog the pipe the water can back up, come over the road way and start to blow out the roadway and come down the other side. 19.08 THAT'S HOW MANY OF THE WASHOUTS OCCURRED DURING TROPICAL STORM IRENE AND FLASH FLOOD EARLIER THIS YEAR. 33.25 PAUL We really need larger structures in order to accommodate the water that passes through them. Especially, when we expect to have more water passing through them as the climate changes and we get more precipitation. 33.37 44.58 BRIDGET With a price tag of 50,000 dollars or more to replace a culvert, the Nature Conservancy is hoping a retrofit for wildlife and transportation will be more appealing to funders. 45.09 MARANGANELO SAYS NOW TOWNS WILL BE ABLE TO USE THE SAYS NOW TOWNS WILL BE ABLE TO USE THE DATA TO PRIORITIZE CULVERT REPLACEMENT. 32.45 PAUL Really it's a question of not only resiliency for our fish populations, it's also a question of resiliency for our infrastructure as well. There's a huge overlap between those two. 32.57 THE HOPE IS THAT CULVERTS THAT ARE MOST LIKELY TO WASH OUT WILL BE REPLACE AND AS A RESULT, BE GREAT PASSAGE FOR FISH. A WIN-WIN FOR EVERYONE. 34.38 PAUL We're really interested in this issue throughout the Champlain basin. The more that streams are connected to each other throughout the basin, then the more resilient our fish and insects will be. 34.50 FOR ECHO AND NEWSCHANNEL FIVE, I'M CONSERVATION CORRESPONDENT BRIDGET BUTLER.

A Justice Department civil rights investigation has concluded that the Ferguson Police Department and the city's municipal court engaged in a "pattern and practice" of discrimination against African-Americans, according to a U.S. law enforcement official.